"The ephemeral meets the eternal: the work of a religious journalist in modern Europe"

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Fri 11 May 2012 11.00 - 13.00

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2012-05-11 11:002012-05-11 13:00Europe/Paris"The ephemeral meets the eternal: the work of a religious journalist in modern Europe"

Ten or 15 years ago, it seemed self-evident that Europe was growing more secular, and theEuropean media reflected that trend, treating religion as a marginal and diminishingforce in society. In the media at least, this situation has changed dramatically. In 2004,I was appointed the religion correspondent at the Economist - the first time that suchan essentially secular newspaper has appointed a journalist to this role. In every otheroutlet in the Anglo-Saxon media, the coverage of religion is considered an importantfunction, although there is great confusion about how to approach the subject. AcrossEurope, the coverage of topics ranging from Vatican sex-abuse scandals to the future of religious education remains an important concern for the mainstream media. Religionitself may not be reviving, but interest in religion - albeit not always sympatheticinterest - remains relatively strong and in some ways growing.

There is no mystery about the main reasons for this change. It is not because Christianity,the historic faith of Europe's majority, has undergone some spectacular revival.On the contrary, Christianity has continued to decline - while still flourishing incertain well-defined pockets. The media have become re-engaged with theology becauseof the emergence in Europe of Islam as a powerful and unapologetic voice in thepublic square - raising, as it seems to non-Muslims, an unlikely but confidently-assertedmixture of demands. They range from cultural issues (from halal meat tosegregated swimming to Muslim cemeteries) to foreign-policy questions toconcerns over the use of public space.

That does not mean that the work of religious correspondents is exclusively concernedwith analyzing issues of Muslim theology, past and present. But the rise of Islam hasimplications for the way that Christianity is covered. As Europe faces a sort of"culture war" between Islam and secular humanism (touching on issues rangingfrom gay rights, gender equality, the purpose of nature of education), there is anunresolved dilemma for organized Christianity in Europe. Will it side with liberal humanism,presenting itself as an ally in the struggle against a resurgence of old-fashionedtheocracy? Or will it side, at a tactical level, with Islam - arguing that public policymust take more account of the social reality of religion, Christian and otherwise?The rise of Islam poses both dangers and opportunities for European Christianity.

Most of the stories covered by religion correspondents like myself relate in one wayor another to the triangle created by Islam, secular humanism and a weak andambivalent Christianity.

Ten or 15 years ago, it seemed self-evident that Europe was growing more secular, and theEuropean media reflected that trend, treating religion as a marginal and diminishingforce in society. In the media at least, this situation has changed dramatically. In 2004,I was appointed the religion correspondent at the Economist - the first time that suchan essentially secular newspaper has appointed a journalist to this role. In every otheroutlet in the Anglo-Saxon media, the coverage of religion is considered an importantfunction, although there is great confusion about how to approach the subject. AcrossEurope, the coverage of topics ranging from Vatican sex-abuse scandals to the future of religious education remains an important concern for the mainstream media. Religionitself may not be reviving, but interest in religion - albeit not always sympatheticinterest - remains relatively strong and in some ways growing.

There is no mystery about the main reasons for this change. It is not because Christianity,the historic faith of Europe's majority, has undergone some spectacular revival.On the contrary, Christianity has continued to decline - while still flourishing incertain well-defined pockets. The media have become re-engaged with theology becauseof the emergence in Europe of Islam as a powerful and unapologetic voice in thepublic square - raising, as it seems to non-Muslims, an unlikely but confidently-assertedmixture of demands. They range from cultural issues (from halal meat tosegregated swimming to Muslim cemeteries) to foreign-policy questions toconcerns over the use of public space.

That does not mean that the work of religious correspondents is exclusively concernedwith analyzing issues of Muslim theology, past and present. But the rise of Islam hasimplications for the way that Christianity is covered. As Europe faces a sort of"culture war" between Islam and secular humanism (touching on issues rangingfrom gay rights, gender equality, the purpose of nature of education), there is anunresolved dilemma for organized Christianity in Europe. Will it side with liberal humanism,presenting itself as an ally in the struggle against a resurgence of old-fashionedtheocracy? Or will it side, at a tactical level, with Islam - arguing that public policymust take more account of the social reality of religion, Christian and otherwise?The rise of Islam poses both dangers and opportunities for European Christianity.

Most of the stories covered by religion correspondents like myself relate in one wayor another to the triangle created by Islam, secular humanism and a weak andambivalent Christianity.